Proper position of Ultrex when stowed?

[LikeToFish]

I installed my 112lb, 60 inch shaft, today. It took a little longer than I thought but then again I took my time as to not mess the installation up. I did scratch my head for quite a while when I couldn't figure out why I couldn't attach the gas spring cylinder to the outer arm. I then realized the black plastic U support or shaft guide needed to be in the up position. When shipped the U support or shaft guide is pushed down into the mount and I didn't realize it was there until looking again at the diagram in the installation guide.

I tried testing motor while the motor was stowed. I had power but the prop wouldn't spin. After reading the owners manual I guess the motor is not operable when stowed. Did I read that right for those of you with a Ultrex?

What is the proper position of the Ultrex when stowed? Is the prop facing out of the boat? How about the control head? Right now I have the prop facing out and if standing next to my trolling motor in the driveway the circle with the word iPilot is farthest away from me and the 112lb label is nearest me. My motor is mounted on the port side.

The heading sensor still needs to be installed and calibrated. Did anyone have any luck mounting that under the deck of your boat? I decided not to use the stabilizer bar and instead will use the Ram stabilizer I use with the Maxxum.

Now I look forward to testing the Ultrex on the water.

[redrangeraz]

I prefer to stow mine with the prop in towards the center of the boat. I also installed a lowrance structurescan transducer on the outside of the lower motorhead, doing so forced me to run the cable along the shaft. Because of this cable it is important for me to always retract the unit with the prop in, to avoid damaging my cable. However, if I need to travel with my cover on, I have to have the prop facing out, because the steering head is so big my cover will not fit.

[Tone357]

I prefer to stow mine with the prop in towards the center of the boat. I also installed a lowrance structurescan transducer on the outside of the lower motorhead, doing so forced me to run the cable along the shaft. Because of this cable it is important for me to always retract the unit with the prop in, to avoid damaging my cable. However, if I need to travel with my cover on, I have to have the prop facing out, because the steering head is so big my cover will not fit.

Huh? How did you install a SS ducer on the motor with the built in ducer in the way? Would love to see a picture!

[AllyFishing]

Correct, the prop will not spin with the motor in the stowed position. That's a nice feature if the prop is facing inside the boat and ya hit the momentary button by accident it won't smack the fiberglass.

I've read here where some have installed a heading sensor (not necessarily this one) under the deck and it worked. Personally I would rather have it open to the sky but you can experiment on your own while out testing and see where it works best.

Read the manual thoroughly to correctly pair the remote, motor and heading sensor. go to the MK website and look up the link and download the app to your smart phone and update the firmware on the remote and head. Again, read the manual for it explains everything in detail.

I prefer to stow mine with the prop facing in for trailing with the cover. My MG 82LB tour had to be stowed with the prop facing out so the shaft laid on the mount properly. This one seems centered no matter which way it is stowed. I think while moving from spot to spot I will stow it with the prop facing out because that just happens to be the way I have my pedal "indexed" for a flat pedal while in a straight forward direction.

[PECo]

Yes, the heading sensor can be installed underneath the deck as long as there isn't any metal above or near it. There's a spot on in the Nitro Z18 hulls that I think was designed with heading sensors or GPS pucks in mind.

[ezfishn]

Test location for Heading Sensor before permanently mounting.

[LikeToFish]

Thanks everyone for your help.

[Want2befishing]

The heading sensor detects magnetic field direction, so it does not need view of the sky. You must avoid artificial magnetic influence from current carrying wires (current in wires produces a magnetic field) which would cause the sensor to fail to correctly detect the earth's magnetic field orientation and related orientation of your boat relative to it. I mounted mine under the console with 3m permanent tape, but away from anything that carries a current when I expect to be using the motor jog feature. My Ranger has a nice little fiberglass ledge on top of the foot pads under the console that worked great for me. Hope this helps.